Rotary donate 10 slow cookers to the Isle of Man Foodbank - July 2018

The Isle of Man Foodbank is a Manx registered charity founded in 2013, originally instigated by Rotarians from Douglas. The Foodbank now has its office and operation at Ballafletcher House, Ballafletcher Farm Road, Cronkbourne.

The Rotary Club of Rushen & Western Mann recently donated 10 slow cookers to the Foodbank and they were presented by President Paul Winnell to Neal Mellon, Managing Director of the charity at their Cronkbourne premises.

In making the donation, Paul Winnell commented:

“The Food Bank is a very worthy cause, fully deserving the support of our Rotary Club. On behalf of the members it is my privilege to hand over the slow cookers and we hope they will help many families to work their way out of a difficult time, often not of their own creation.

Their crisis is our opportunity to help, through support of the Foodbank."

In accepting the donation, Neal Mellon replied:

“Times are hard, many people are ‘just about managing’ so when a crisis occurs such as redundancy, illness or possibly a domestic situation, everything becomes impossible to manage.

That’s why Foodbank exists, we provide emergency food and, in many cases help clients to identify and resolve underlying problems by advising them of other support organisations such as Salvation Army, Debt Management, Social Services and Housing Matters, in a bid to get them back to independence”.

Neal went on to outline how the Foodbank have a number of other projects that they are involved in namely:

• ·         Providing a conduit to minimise food waste by working with local supermarkets and food retailers.
• ·         Working with the Probation Service to build skills and get people back in work.
• ·         Working with the Police to enable them to provide food parcels in emergency situations.
• ·         Basic skills in cookery training and the provision of slow cookers.
• ·         Foodbank allotment for training opportunities involving students from UCM in growing fresh produce.
• ·         Working with schools to address ‘holiday hunger’ and ‘Breakfast Clubs’.